Archive for day: Wednesday, August 17th, 2016

As we move into the late summer months, the search for talent is heating up along with the temperature!
In fact, job creation in July exceeded expectations according to the Labor Department. With a total of 255,000 new jobs added to the U.S economy, most of the strongest gains were made by professional and business services, healthcare, and financial services. Even more noteworthy is the unemployment rate, which has stayed steady at 4.9%—a strong indicator that the war for talent remains in full swing.
This is especially true for employers in areas where the regional unemployment is lower than or at the national average:
New York County (Manhattan, NY): 4.4%*
Morris County, NJ: 3.9%*
Somerset County, NJ: 4.1%*
Fairfield County, CT: 4.7%*
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA – NH: 3.9%*
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL: 4.9%*
“As the unemployment rates in these regions continue to drop as more jobs are added to the economy, the war for talent will only get more intense,” notes Edward Fleischman, CEO of The Execu|Search Group. “In this candidate-driven market, job seekers know they can be more selective with opportunities in the market and the organizations they choose to work for. As a result, employers need to adapt their hiring strategies to attract this new type of candidate. If not, you risk missing out on top talent and falling behind your competitors.”
To ensure you can secure the talent you need to move business forward, try incorporating the following tactics into your hiring process:
Make better, faster offers: It’s a buyer’s market for candidates right now so, you’ll often find your top candidate interviewing with multiple companies at once. This means taking too long to make an offer—or not giving the best offer up front—can lead you to miss out on a candidate who has a better experience elsewhere. To ensure these practices don’t negatively impact your ability to secure talent, extend salaries that reflect the candidate’s true worth; make faster decisions; reduce the number of interview rounds; and keep candidates informed of where they stand throughout the process.
Promote your company culture: Having an attractive company identity has always been important to professionals, but today it can make or break a candidate’s decision to accept an offer. Give prospective hires a well-rounded view of what makes your company unique by: having them meet with their potential team members, making introductions to key players at the company, and giving them a tour of the office.
Emphasize the role’s purpose + growth path: Professionals in today’s market want to work for a purpose, not just a simple paycheck. While compensation is certainly important, you need to be able to articulate what is meaningful about the role if you want to entice an applicant to choose your organization over another. To do this, be prepared to answer questions pertaining to: what is challenging about the role; what makes the company unique; what traits make someone successful in the role; the growth track of the position; and how the role will help the company make an impact on the industry, the world, and it’s stakeholders.
For more information on the above strategies as well as best practices for retaining top talent, check out our eBook, Spotlight On The New Candidate: 6 Steps For Connecting With Talent In An Evolving Market.
*Regional unemployment rates as of June 2016

The importance of networking is stressed early on in your career. From this, you have learned that your network can potentially open doors in your professional career, and one of your connections could even help you land your dream job. However, many professionals misunderstand networking as a means of simply meeting people for the sole purpose of getting ahead. Contrary to this belief, networking is actually a two-way street of sharing knowledge and resources in order to build meaningful relationships.
While many young professionals understand this idea in theory, it can be a bit puzzling when they feel they don’t have anything of value to offer more experienced professionals. When accomplished people boast long resumes, extensive industry contacts, and working knowledge of top companies, it can be very intimidating to even approach them. Furthermore, those same professionals can be wary of novices trying to take advantage of them. While you may not have 10 years of experience to share, you can certainly offer value to your network. In order to continue building relationships that will pay off down the road, use the following approaches to offer help to your connections:
Share articles and information
Like most driven professionals, you are probably caught up on industry news and events. Whenever you find a helpful article or an insightful infographic, simply share this with your LinkedIn network, or email it to those who might find it useful. This is a simple exchange of knowledge that could help keep your connections up to date. As a result, they will appreciate that you thought of them, and you could start an enticing conversation through this simple gesture.
Create your own content
Aside from simply reading industry news, remember that even young professionals have a valuable perspective, and you should voice your own opinions from time to time. Whether you write a blog or document your experience through photography or videos, you can share your own thoughts on the industry. When you distribute your own content in the same way you do with third party resources, this opens up more opportunities to connect over industry topics. Plus, you’ll boost your credibility with the more experienced professionals who find your content useful. Not only can it be an extremely rewarding way to start conversations within your own network, but creating and sharing content on a consistent basis can also help you build your online brand.
Volunteer your time
In addition to offering knowledge and resources, you can also offer your time through a number of ways. For instance, you could become a mentor or career coach to current students, or orchestrate volunteer opportunities for a group through a nonprofit organization. Regardless of how you go about it, this not only lets you bond with connections, but also looks great on a resume.
Connect others in your network
Lastly, you can also offer additional connections to people in your network. If one person is hiring for a role at their company, and you know someone who would be a perfect fit, this is an excellent opportunity to connect these people and provide value for both of them. Additionally, you may simply know two people who have very similar interests. If you think they would get along, be sure to introduce them. Just as you’ve learned, the people you know can be incredibly valuable—not just to you, but to others as well.

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The Execu|Search Group is a leading recruitment, temporary staffing, and workforce management solutions firm with offices throughout the U.S. Whether you're a professional interested in making your next move, or an employer looking to improve your hiring strategy, we're here to help!